Dondria: So So Def’s Newest Star

A country girl born in Dover, Oklahoma; raised in Texas! She’s been singing all her life. Started out in the church in Richardson, Texas. Now hear this future star’s story.

Wordofsouth.com: How’s it going Dondria, You finally released your single, you must feel really good?

Dondria: Yes, I’m very excited, because it’s the second time around. I’ve been signed for 2 years, and the first single we tried to put out, a lot happened, we left Def Jam in the middle of it, now me and JD are independent, I have great people around me who support me 100% and its just exciting to be with a team that is excited.

Wordofsouth.com: I know music was part of your life growing up, even up to college, can you tell me when you first knew that you wanted to sing?

Dondria: In Middle school around 7th grade, in 6th grade I tried everything, from art to band; I didn’t like either, so I tried the choir. I always sung in church, but 7th grade was when I joined competitions and started taking voice lessons. It was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was doing open mic nights on the weekend, was in pop group at once, so I’ve always done music.

Wordofsouth.com: Than you moved to putting videos onto the internet, YouTube in particular, a lot of artist like Soulja Boy and Justin Bieber used the internet as a tool to get exposure, was that your goal as well? To get exposure?

Dondria: Actually it wasn’t, I put it up to see what people would say outside of family and friends, and you know with family they probably wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings. If I sounded bad, my family and friends wouldn’t tell me, So I decided to get opinions from people I didn’t know and I knew I would get the real raw opinion from those people, whether I liked it or not.

Wordofsouth.com: We know Jermaine Dupri saw your talent on YouTube; can you tell us exactly how JD actually reached out to you and what your reaction was?

Dondria: Well he saw me on YouTube, and he wrote me on MySpace a few times, the first time he wrote me I said “this is not him” because so many people had been writing me on MySpace saying “I’m so and so, I want to work with you, I want to get you in the studio and etc”. I wouldn’t respond to their messages and they would leave me alone, but JD was persistent and kept writing, saying he wanted to really work with me, and how he thought I had a lot of talent. I still didn’t believe it was him until he wrote me for a 3rd time. I finally responded, and the next month he flew me and mom out to Atlanta to show us he was very serious…6 months later, we got to work!

Wordofsouth.com: Coming from a church background, did your family have any reservations of you getting into the music industry?

Dondria: Umm not really, they maybe had a few reservations, when I was doing my videos on YouTube, my mom would tell me to do more gospel songs, because I only did a few, but they never gave me negative energy, but I am sure she would like to me to put out a gospel album at one point in the future.

Wordofsouth.com: Who are some of the r&b artist you consider your favorites?

Dondria: Beyonce, she’s always going to be my favorite, Tank (He’s so beautiful), Keri Hilson, Chrisette Michelle, Whitney Houston, and Aretha Franklin,

Wordofsouth.com: Are you currently working on album?

Dondria: I’m pretty much done, you never know with JD though, I go to Atlanta next week and I wouldn’t be surprise if he has a new song waiting for me and wants to have it recorded before Christmas.

Are you going to have any features, or just you?

Dondria: My features will be Bow Wow and Johnta Austin.

Wordofsouth.com: Can you describe what your musical style is?

Dondria: My style is definitely r&b, with chunks of soul, I also have some pop too, and one of our goals is to bring real r&b back and its going be this album, a lot of r&b.

Wordofsouth.com: “You’re the one” (your single) is such a strong, mature song, sang beautifully by you. Is your album going to be geared toward that type of audience? Is that what we can expect more of from the album?

Dondria: I feel like I have something for everyone, my first single “Can’t Stop” was very pop, the younger kids loved it, I just performed that song at an elementary school and the kids really loved it, so I definitely have something for everyone on the album.

Wordofsouth.com: You have the mixtape out right now, “Dondria Duets”. I enjoyed it, particularly “Lovers and Friends” remix, not many r&b artist put out mixtapes before the album, do you plan to give fans another one before the album drops? Maybe a duets part 2?

Dondria: Actually I and JD talked about it, and it might be in the works in the future. .

Wordofsouth.com: Well I appreciate you taking the time out to speak to me, it was a pleasure, and I sure hope after the album drops, we can do a follow up… Do you have any last words you’d like to say?

Dondria: First “You’re The One” is officially released everywhere, make sure you go get your copy… Lets see, other than that, I thank everybody for showing me love… those who supported me since 2006, and people who showed me love since yesterday, I have so much further to go, I wouldn’t be able to do it with out my fans support. Thank you!